Veronika Velez-Zuzulová

Veronika Velez-Zuzulová (née Zuzulová; born 15 July 1984) is a retired Slovak alpine ski racer. Born in Bratislava, she specialised in the slalom and was the most successful Slovak alpine skier before Petra Vlhová. She was coached by her father Timotej Zuzula and Vladimír Kovár. In April 2012, she married coach Romain Velez and added her maiden name to her married name becoming Velez-Zuzulová.[1]

Veronika Velez-Zuzulová
Zuzulová at Aspen in November 2006
Personal information
Birth nameVeronika Zuzulová
Born (1984-07-15) 15 July 1984 (age 40)
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
OccupationAlpine skier
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesSlalom
ClubVojenské športové centrum Dukla Banská Bystrica
World Cup debut28 October 2000 (age 16)
Retired10 March 2018 (age 33)
Websitezuzulova.com
Olympics
Teams4 – (2002, 2006, 2010, 2018)
Medals0
World Championships
Teams8 – (2001, 2005-17)
Medals1 (0 gold)
World Cup
Seasons17 – (20012013, 20152018)
Wins5 – (4 SL, 1 CE)
Podiums30 – (27 SL, 3 CE)
Overall titles0 – (12th in 2013)
Discipline titles0 – (2nd in SL, 2016 & 2017)
Medal record
Women's alpine skiing
Representing  Slovakia
International alpine ski competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 0 0
World Championships 0 1 0
Total 0 1 0
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2017 St. Moritz Team event
Junior World Ski Championships
Gold medal – first place 2002 Sella Nevea Slalom
New Zealand Winter Games
Gold medal – first place 2011 Queenstown Giant Slalom
Gold medal – first place 2011 Queenstown Slalom

Velez-Zuzulová started skiing at age 3; at 14 she won the Trofeo Topolino in Italy, an unofficial children's world championship.

Europa Cup

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She started competing in the Europa Cup from the 2000/2001 season, and she took Europa Cup race wins on 21 December 2003, 23 February 2004 and 19 December 2006, and 3rd place on 6 and 22 February 2004.[2]

World Championships

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At the 2007 World Championships in Åre, Sweden, she scored 9th place in super combined, 13th place in slalom and 21st place in giant slalom.

Velez-Zuzulová was part of the Slovakian team which took a surprise silver in the team event at the 2017 World Championships in St. Moritz, defeating Germany, Italy and Switzerland before being beaten by France in the final on time by eight hundredths of a second after a 2-2 tie.[3]

World Cup

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Velez-Zuzulová made her World Cup debut in a giant slalom at Sölden, Austria, on 28 October 2000. In November 2002, she started competing in slalom. Her first major win was in 2002 when she became the World Junior Champion. Her first run in super combined was in 2006.

Across her career, Velez-Zuzulová took 30 World Cup podiums with five victories, all in slalom (or parallel slalom).[4] Her best results in the World Cup season standings came in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, when she finished second in the slalom discipline.[5] In the 2013 season, she finished third in slalom and 12th overall; she also finished third in slalom in 2008. She retired from competition in 2018, with her final World Cup start being in a slalom in Ofterschwang.[5]

Season results

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Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
Slalom
Combined
2002 17 68 23
2003 18 injured
2004 19 42 15
2005 20 37 9
2006 21 77 28 44
2007 22 19 5 32 37
2008 23 15 3 41
2009 24 65 22
2010 25 94 36
2011 26 19 5 42
2012 27 17 4 42
2013 28 12 3
2014 29 injured
2015 30 24 6
2016 31 13 2
2017 32 11 2
2018 33 97 42
  • Standings through 4 February 2018

Race podiums

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  • 5 wins – (4 SL, 1 CE)
  • 30 podiums – (27 SL, 3 CE)
Season Date Location Discipline Place
2004 8 Feb 2004   Zwiesel, Germany Slalom 3rd
2007 7 Jan 2007   Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Slalom 3rd
25 Feb 2007   Sierra Nevada, Spain Slalom 3rd
17 Mar 2007     Lenzerheide, Switzerland Slalom 3rd
2008 6 Jan 2008   Špindlerův Mlýn, Czech Republic Slalom 2nd
13 Jan 2008   Maribor, Slovenia Slalom 2nd
15 Feb 2008   Zagreb, Croatia Slalom 3rd
14 Mar 2008   Bormio, Italy Slalom 2nd
2011 4 Feb 2011   Zwiesel, Germany Slalom 2nd
18 Mar 2011     Lenzerheide, Switzerland Slalom 3rd
2012 22 Jan 2012   Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Slalom 3rd
10 Mar 2012   Åre, Sweden Slalom 2nd
17 Mar 2012   Schladming, Austria Slalom 2nd
2013 29 Dec 2012   Semmering, Austria Slalom 1st
1 Jan 2013   Munich, Germany City event 1st
29 Jan 2013   Moscow, Russia City event 2nd
2015 22 Feb 2015   Maribor, Slovenia Slalom 2nd
14 Mar 2015   Åre, Sweden Slalom 2nd
21 Mar 2015   Méribel, France Slalom 3rd
2016 28 Nov 2015   Aspen, USA Slalom 2nd
5 Jan 2016   Santa Caterina, Italy Slalom 3rd
12 Jan 2016   Flachau, Austria Slalom 1st
15 Jan 2016 Slalom 1st
6 Mar 2016   Jasná, Slovakia Slalom 3rd
19 Mar 2016     St. Moritz, Switzerland Slalom 2nd
2017 27 Nov 2016   Killington, USA Slalom 2nd
11 Dec 2016   Sestriere, Italy Slalom 2nd
29 Dec 2016   Semmering, Austria Slalom 2nd
3 Jan 2017   Zagreb, Croatia Slalom 1st
31 Jan 2017   Stockholm, Sweden City event 2nd

World Championship results

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  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined   Team  
event
2001 16 DNF1 34
2003 18 injured, did not compete
2005 20 DSQ1
2007 22 13 21 9
2009 24 DNS1
2011 26 10 15
2013 28 7 9
2015 30 4
2017 32 DNF2 2

Olympic results

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  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined
2002 17 DNF1 32
2006 21 22 15
2010 25 10 DNS2
2014 29 injured, did not compete
2018 33 17

References

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  1. ^ "Slovakian Alpine ski athlete Veronika Velez- Zuzulova". gettyimages.co.uk. Getty Images. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Veronika Zuzulová". Osobnosti.sk (in Slovak). Archived from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
  3. ^ Baldwin, Alan (14 February 2017). Shine, Ossian (ed.). "France opens medal account with team gold". reuters.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018. Veronika Velez Zuzulova
  4. ^ "VELEZ ZUZULOVA Veronika". fis-ski.com. International Ski Federation. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Retiring ski stars dress to impress on final run". news.yahoo.com. 10 March 2018. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2018. Veronika Velez-Zuzulova
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